Mr. Hirata, Please Put Away Those 'Mama's Boy' Eyes!

"Knock, knock!"

I knocked on the office door. I could vaguely hear a discussion going on inside; I recognized the voice of our homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae. Besides her, there was another voice, younger and more lively. Who was that again?

"Come in." Hearing the permission, Hirata and I exchanged a glance before pushing the office door open.

Once we stepped inside, we were met with the sight of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune standing before Chabashira Sae. The three of them seemed to be discussing something. Beside them stood a woman in pink casual clothes; judging by her appearance, she was undoubtedly a beauty.

"You're here. Come over. As for you two, you can head back now."

I didn't know what Chabashira Sae had said to Horikita and the others, but judging by the clearly troubled expression on Horikita's face, it obviously wasn't anything good. In contrast, Ayanokoji, who was following behind her, looked completely calm.

It was clear that the reason for this still lay with Ayanokoji.

As we brushed past them, he met Ayanokoji's gaze, but could only detect a hint of helplessness on his face.

Chiba Yu nodded indifferently, then walked with Hirata to stand before Chabashira Sae.

"Teacher, did you call for us?" Hirata spoke up first.

"Oh my! Two students just left, and now two more have arrived—and both of them are such handsome guys! Little Sae, are you trying to start your own secret boy band? I'm telling you, as a teacher, that is absolutely forbidden... Ouch!"

Thwack!

Mm, I could tell just by the sound that it was a solid hit.

Accompanied by a loud thud, Hoshinomiya, who had just been chattering away with ridiculous, jaw-dropping remarks, instantly crouched down while clutching her head, her eyes welling up with tears.

"That's so mean, Little Sae!"

"Heh, that's the punishment for your nonsense and for teasing my students."

Hoshinomiya wasn't happy to hear that and immediately stood up, pouting in protest. "It wasn't teasing! I was just worried that you might be going down the wrong path, Little Sae."

"Try to maintain some professional dignity as a teacher, Hoshinomiya. Alright, you two, don't just stand there. Let's move to the back."

After reprimanding Hoshinomiya, Chabashira Sae led the two of us to the back of the room, ignoring Hoshinomiya, who remained where she was, complaining to herself.

The bickering between the two left Chiba Yu and Hirata feeling awkward, but out of awareness of their own positions, they sincerely refrained from interrupting and silently waited for the farce to end.

"Sit." Leading them to the back, Chabashira Sae had them sit down. Neither of them refused, but compared to Chiba Yu's composure, Hirata couldn't sit still for long.

"Chabashira-sensei, may we ask what has happened?"

"Don't worry. I didn't call you here because you've done something wrong. Well... that's not entirely accurate. Here, take a look at this first."

As she spoke, Chabashira handed a sheet of paper to Hirata. Seeing this, Chiba Yu leaned in slowly. What met his eyes were the words "Quiz Results."

At the very top was the name Horikita Suzune, followed immediately by Yukimura and the others.

"Teacher, our grades should be above the passing line, right? Is there some kind of problem?"

Snap! Chabashira Sae took out a cigarette, placed it in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter, taking a deep drag before exhaling a cloud of white smoke.

"Indeed, your grades are all above the class passing line. Logically, there shouldn't be any issues. But Hirata, look closely at Chiba Yu's grades."

"Hmm..." Hirata scanned down the list and finally found Chiba Yu's name in the middle of the class. "Teacher, aren't Chiba's grades quite normal?" Looking at the score of 60, Hirata felt puzzled by Chabashira Sae's words.

"Oh? Indeed, if you look at it normally, there might be nothing wrong with this score. But what if I show you this? What would you think then?"

As she spoke, Chabashira Sae pulled another document from behind her. When Hirata took it and looked, his eyes narrowed instantly, as if he had seen something truly absurd.

"This... Japanese 60, Math 60, English 60, Social Studies 60... all of them are 60?!" As Hirata read out his scores subject by subject, Chiba Yu's desire to leave reached its peak.

"No, I think it's just a coincidence." I explained flatly, but the power of my words seemed so pale and weak.

"Heh, if scoring 60 in one subject is a coincidence, then what should we call it when you score 60 in every single subject?" Chabashira Sae fanned the flames from the side once again.

Hirata's eyes were filled with disbelief, and even his hands holding the document were trembling slightly, signaling his inner turmoil.

But despite learning such a shocking fact, he still managed his expression well. He merely scanned Chiba Yu with curious eyes before handing the document back to Chabashira.

"I believe Chiba must have his own reasons for doing this, but I am still grateful to you for telling me this, Chabashira-sensei."

Faced with Hirata's indifference, Chabashira looked at him with interest, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Indeed, everyone has the right to choose how they act. But Hirata, don't you think it's quite foolish for someone with ability to hide their talent?"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it, and like I said, this time it was nothing more than a coincidence." Having said that, Chiba Yu stood up from his seat. "If you called us here just to tell us such uninteresting things, Teacher, I think I should take my leave."

Without waiting to see what Hirata thought, Chiba Yu left the room and pulled the office door shut behind him.

"Chiba!" Seeing Chiba Yu leave, Hirata instinctively wanted to chase after him, but the moment he was about to step out the door, Chabashira Sae's voice rang out behind him.

"Hirata, you should know why a cheetah usually doesn't use its full strength when chasing prey."

"...Because they feel the prey isn't worth it, right?" Hirata replied bitterly, his back turned to Chabashira.

"It seems you understand. Hirata, I can tell you that there has never been an example of Class D rising to Class A in this school. But if you truly have that ambition, then try to understand Chiba Yu. Perhaps he will be the key to your promotion to Class A."

Hirata paused, standing at the door in silence. A moment later, he slowly raised his head, his voice filled with unparalleled determination. "If it is as you say, Teacher, I will try to change him."

If Chiba Yu had been here to hear those words, he might have broken out in goosebumps.

But precisely because of Chabashira Sae's actions today, his future life of energy conservation was destined to slowly slip away from him...